Thursday marks the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the end of World War II in Europe. It’s also the 80th anniversary of a heroic U.S. Air Force mission that should remain a source of inspiration for America now.
U.S. planes dropped tons of life-saving food into the famine-ravaged Netherlands at the end of World War II. The Dutch people were dying of starvation. The Allies reached agreement with the German occupying forces to do the food drops starting in late April 1945.
America’s Operation Chowhound started about a week before VE Day. Britain’s Royal Air Force also did its own food drops, called Operation Manna, and Canadian forces began to bring food in by truck. It took great preparation for the U.S. and Allies to build up food stocks and personnel for the task — especially amid the war.
See my full article in the Austin American-Statesman
Author William Lambers 